Dutch Ambassador: We Still See Hamas as a Terror Group

Caspar Veldkamp, Holland's ambassador to Israel, says his country and the European Union (EU) still view Hamas as a terror organization, according to a Friday-morning report by Kol Yisrael government radio. At the same time, the ambassador says he hopes Israel will not take steps that will harm the possibility of continuing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Lars Faaborg-Andersen, the EU's ambassador to Israel, told the station that the EU hopes very much that the talks will be successfully renewed. He said the EU is closely monitoring the reconciliation between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas, which prompted Israel to suspend the talks.